Silvana Pileggi

Publications (3)7.51 Total impact

• Article: Erratum to: Is the SHRPS Strain a Suitable Model of Spontaneous CADASIL?

  Silvana Penco, Paolo Gelosa, Silvana Pileggi, Mauro Abbate, Alessandro Marocchi, Uliano Guerrini, Alice Pignieri, Elena Tremoli, Luigi Sironi
  Journal of Molecular Neuroscience 06/2012; · 2.50 Impact Factor
• Article: Is the SHRPS strain a suitable model of spontaneous CADASIL?

  Silvana Penco, Paolo Gelosa, Silvana Pileggi, Mauro Abbate, Alessandro Marocchi, Uliano Guerrini, Alice Pignieri, Elena Tremoli, Luigi Sironi
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  ABSTRACT: A number of features of the pathology occurring in spontaneously hypertensive stroke prone rats (SHRSPs), such as MRI brain signal abnormalities, the presence of high protein content in cerebrospinal fluid and vessel wall thickening, seem to indicate that this strain is a suitable model for cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL). To explore this hypothesis, we sought the human diagnostic hallmarks of the disease [the accumulation of granular osmiophilic material (GOM) deposits in vessel walls and NOTCH3 gene mutations] in SHRSPs. Male SHRSPs fed a permissive diet were sacrificed 3 days after the first MRI visualisation of brain abnormalities. Whole blood and kidney samples were respectively collected for molecular and electron microscopy evaluations. Automated sequence analysis of exons and intron-exon boundaries did not reveal any genetic variation in the NOTCH3 gene, and electron microscopy excluded the presence of GOM. The findings of this study exclude SHRSPs as a possible model for CADASIL.
  Journal of Molecular Neuroscience 08/2011; 46(2):427-30. · 2.50 Impact Factor
• Article: Genetic variations within KRIT1/CCM1, MGC4607/CCM2 and PDCD10/CCM3 in a large Italian family harbouring a Krit1/CCM1 mutation.

  Silvana Pileggi, Serena Buscone, Claudia Ricci, Maria Cristina Patrosso, Alessandro Marocchi, Paola Brunori, Stefania Battistini, Silvana Penco
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  ABSTRACT: Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are congenital vascular anomalies of the central nervous system that can result in seizures, haemorrhage, recurrent headaches and focal neurologic deficit. CCMs can occur as an autosomal dominant trait with incomplete penetrance and a wide phenotypic variability. The genes responsible for this disease are KRIT1/CCM1 on chromosome 7q21.2, MGC4607/CCM2 on chromosome 7p15-p13 and PDCD10/CCM3 on chromosome 3q25.2-q27. Mutations in KRIT1/CCM1 account for more than 40% of CCMs. We previously reported a CCM family harbouring the KRIT1/CCM1 1204delAACAA mutation. In order to search for possible explanation of the clinical variability observed, we looked for genetic variation within exons and exon/intron regions in the three genes KRIT1, MGC4607 and PDCD10 associated to the disease within this large family, 23 subjects have been analysed. Identified genetic variations in the three genes are here presented. We believe that genetic variations could interfere with the proper CCM1/CCM2/CCM3 protein complex thus explaining the observed clinical variability.
  Journal of Molecular Neuroscience 04/2010; 42(2):235-42. · 2.50 Impact Factor